Dead
Seeing something dead in your dream suggests you are realising that some part of yourself, or your feelings, are no longer expressing fully. In fact you may have killed that part of you by denying it, repressing, or freezing it from normal life. The ‘death’ may even have been caused by a painful experience. But even so, it still means you have made a decision – perhaps unconscious – to shut out that part of your life. This can also relate to a lost opportunity or potential.
Some aspect of your outer or inner life is fading, or being superseded by a changed approach, so may be shown as dying. Your drive to achieve something might die, and be shown as a death in your dreams. Changing from adolescence to puberty, maturity to old age, are also shown as oneself dying. Lost opportunities or unexpressed potentials in oneself are frequently shown as dead bodies. All of us unconsciously learn attitudes or survival skills from parents and others. If these are unrecognised they may be shown as dead. Sometimes we have killed the child or teenager in us because of difficulties or trauma at those ages, and these may be seen as a dead person in one’s dream.
Some death dreams may show the awakening of new life in the dreamer. For instance, Sue worked on a dream in which she was told her baby had died. She woke shaking with grief and tears. The dream and emotions appeared to show her becoming alive enough to feel the grief of her past pain as it connected with the death of her hopes, love, and ideals. She had suppressed her pain for so long. In now coming alive enough to feel her emotions, she was feeling at last that something had died in her.
If the death is someone we know: Frequently, as in second example, desire to be free of the person; or unexpressed aggression; perhaps one’s love for that person has ‘died’. We often ‘kill’ our parents in dreams as we move toward independence. Or we may want someone ‘out of the way’ so we do not have to compete for attention and love.
Death of oneself: Exploration of feelings about death; retreat from the challenge of life; split between mind and body. The experience of leaving the body is frequently an expression of this schism between the ego and life processes. Also: Death of old patterns of living – one’s ‘old self’, the loss of the boundaries that limit your awareness to an identity connected only to the body. This latter is usually a willing surrender of self to the process.
The walking dead or rigor mortis: Aspects of the dreamer that are denied, perhaps through fear.
Dancing with or meeting death or dark figure: Facing up to death.
Example: ‘My son comes in and I see he is unwashed and seems preoccupied and as if he has not cared for himself for some days. I ask him what is wrong. He tells me his mother is dead. I then seem to know she has been dead for days, and my two sons have not told anyone. In fact my other son has not even accepted the fact.’ Anthony.
Anthony is a divorcee. Processing the dream he realised the two sons are ways he is relating to the death of his marriage – the children’s mother.
Example: ‘During my teens I was engaged to be married when I found a more attractive partner and was in considerable conflict. Consistently I dreamt I was at my fiancé’s funeral until it dawned on me the dream was telling me I wanted to be free of him. When I gave him up the dreams ceased.’ Mrs D.
Example: ‘I dream I have a weak heart which will be fatal. It is the practice of doctors in such cases to administer a tablet causing one painlessly to go to sleep – die. I am completely calm and accepting of my fate. I suddenly realise I must leave notes for my parents and children. I must let them know how much I love them, must do this quickly before my time runs out.’ Mrs M.
This is a frequent type of ‘death’ dream. It is a way of reminding ourselves to do now what we want to – especially regarding love.
Although the unconscious has a very real sense of its eternal nature and continuance after physical death, the ego seldom shares this. Unconsciously we realise that collective humanity carries living experience from the life of those now dead. The farmer today unconsciously uses the collective experience of humanity in farming. What innovation he does today his children or others will learn and carry into the future. But apart from that there is life after death. See: Life after Death By Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross.
Idioms: Dead and buried; dead from the neck up / or neck down; dead to the world; play dead.
Dreams about a dead person: Dreaming of someone who is dead, a relative or loved one, is quite common. After all, the person may have played a big part in your life, as for instance a husband or wife. Therefore the influence of their existence is still very much a live in you.
As an example of this, you will probably be able to realise that some of your traits, some of the ways that you think or respond to things, have arisen because of the way you related to the person you dreamt about. So in many cases the dead person indicates the feelings you have about the, the traits you still have alive in you from them. When someone close to you dies you go through a period of change from relating to them as an external reality, to meeting and accepting them as alive in your memories and inner life.
Some dreams of dead people are expressive of attempts to deal with feelings, guilt or anger in connection with the person who died; or your own feelings about death.
Dreams about a Dead husband or wife: Many dreams of dead people come from women who have lost their husband. It is common to have disturbing dreams for some period afterwards; or not be able to dream about the husband or wife at all; or to see the partner in the distance but not get near. In accepting the death, meeting any feelings of loss, grief, anger and continuing love, the dream may become as in the third example. See: Death.
Comments
I had a dream about my deceased father, I was 14 when he died and since have had several dreams about him, one has definitely stuck with me unfortunately, in the dream I knew he was dead, but I looked out my window and he was simply walking past my house, I ran out after him shouting on him but he simply ignored me, throughout the dream I was simply being ignored and began crying. Upon waking up I found that as well as crying in the dream, I was also crying realistically.
I was wondering if you could possibly explain this
AA – I had a similar dream about my father that he would not get near me.
I thing to realise is that this is only one dream of your father, and it might not be about your father. I mean that anybody we are close to is taken in to our dream life and become a symbol of al we have learnt, felt or experienced in relation to them. For instance I dream that my dead father was in a deserted house, rather a morbid place. He was in a bad way and so thin that I had to support him as I dragged him out of the front door where a young woman stood. Then he disappeared.
When I explored the dream the result I got was: It was that the old deserted building was representation of an old way of life and attitudes I had lived in years passed – that was why it was deserted. The heavy atmosphere of the room was a hangover of depression and negative thinking I used to have that could still be felt at times. And my father/me was an attitude or view of myself I have at times, one of a worn out old man. I was in a hurry to get out of the building into the sunlit street. My father/me disappearing was that I had let go of that attitude, and the woman depicted opportunity.
So in your dream you must face the feelings that he has deserted you and wants nothing to do with you. They are your feelings, not his.
Tony
i recently lost my love of my life i just got to knoe for 4 in half year he got killed on may 15 2012 in his apartment i want answer i want justice most of all he comes to in my dreams alot what he rying to tell me
I would like to know more about dreams. My very close friends son was 31 and died in a tragic hit and run accident and i worked with his son and saw him everyday. it has been a year and i still dream about him but I recently had a dream he was trying to tell me something. I have no idea what he is trying to say.
I dreamed that i was in beautiful hospital, all was white, with large french windows looking out onto the gardens and a long winding path that disappeared into the distance. There were machines there too, I could see them and hear them humming.
There were also three doctors dressed in white who told me “if you want to live you’re going to have to dream about Frankenstein’ monsters wife for 2 days”, they were horror struck and fearful for me. At the point they look towards the window and said “Oh no…”
I also looked out of the window and saw the fictional serial killer from Friday the 13th, Jason in the distance coming down the winding path towards me, with a knife in his hand.
Then there was darkness like I’ve never experienced before in my life. Everything went jet black. The humming of the machines stopped. I felt paralyzed, like I was slipping away. At that point I knew I was dying and consciously fought against it. Only then did i wake up in real life.
Please, please give me some specific explanation as to what this may mean – I’m scared to sleep for fear of dreaming of that bleak nothingness again.
Thank you
Faaria
Faaria – There are so many secrets of Life that we never learn about in our schools or even our universities, unless we have studied the hidden side of world religions or great philosophy. The great bleak nothingness you are scared of is one of those sacred secrets.
Try to think of this; try to see if you could merge everything into one thing. I mean everything – the universe, our world, all the animals and plants, the many races of people all in one thing. What would it look like?
Well it couldn’t be light because that wouldn’t include darkness. It could be any shape because that would exclude many other shapes. It couldn’t be male or female because it would not be everything. Perhaps it might be a featureless darkness. But that nothingness is everything, and creates everything. Of course you were frightened of it because you are terrified or becoming the nothing that is everything. But you do it every time you go to sleep. You gradually drift into that featureless darkness we call unconsciousness. We are used to doing it because we lose awareness of ourselves. But if we begin to do it consciously we are frightened it will kill us.
In fact that is one of the great and sacred secrets – we must face death before we can receive eternal life. Please read What we need to remember about dreams.
Tony
Dear Tony,
I had a dream that we found 2 people dead in the trunk of a car. A love one of those two people came and I was hugging him letting him know it will be okay. Someone came in trying to explain what happen but the spirit pick up the little boy i was hugging, then I woke up. What does this mean.
Hi Tony,
This thoughts was bothering me for quite a while now and i really need your help/advce. I just want to know what’s the meaning of seeing my ex bofriend dead and being put inside the body bag. I was watching a crime movie and there was a scene that a dead man was inside a body bag but when i looked into his face i saw my ex boyfriend’s face and everytime i think of that i get really nervous. Was that a sign that something bad will happen to him coz the last time i told him to be careful as i dont want him to get sick and then when i saw him after a week he got an eye infection. I also dream of him having other women which i felt so bad when i woke up and after a few weeks I learned that it was true. Do I have sychic power?
Please advise me what to do next.
Nez – Not necessarily psychic powers, as a part of your everyday survival skills the capacity to predict the future is a well developed part of life. So much so you often fail to notice doing it. For instance when crossing a road you quickly take in factors related to sounds, car speeds, and your own physical condition, and predict the likelihood of being able to cross the road without injury. Based on information gathered, often unconsciously, we also attempt to asses or predict the outcome of relationships or other ventures.
So you may have taken in tone of voice, small indications indicating his sleeping around, and also his death in your dream could mean the death of your relationship with him, not his actual death.
Tony
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your reply, really appreciates it however i didn’t dream of him being dead but seen his face from a dead man’s body. I was afraid it might come true as most of the things i’ve dreamt and said to him became true. But i think you have a point there perhaps seeing him dead might be my relationship with him has really ended or been dead. Dunno maybe the best thing to do is to forget him and forget what I saw. Thanks so much Tony and God bless!
Tony,
I dreamt that I was attending my college courses at my old high school, where I saw an old friend. In the dream there was an arena where people were being persecuted. My friend was one of three people in my dream to be up for persecution. The first two women before her, one of which I did recognize from high school but didn’t know very well, were persecuted by a large blade that cut off their heads… The friend I do know what put on a swing, much like one you find on a childrens play ground; however, it was set up very high. She swung the swing as hard as she could side to side to avoid persecution by a large fake bull that came charging through the air on a roller coaster type trail rail with a large boulder tied to the end of a rope (rope acting as its tail)…she was able to survive the bull but then later had to face the sharp blade…as she was about to be killed I woke up. It was quite disturbing and would like to know the meaning of this. My boyfriend was there and tried to calm me, and there were other things going on in my dream, like my 4 yr old son’s class getting ready to put on a play in that same arena between persecutions…I dont know what to make of it all…especially waking up before her death.
horrible dream, firstly i was at the funeral of my brother who passed away 2 yrs ago, n i was extremely upset in a fit of tears jus like i was wen he passed away, it was in a odd church though and we were outside whilest his coffin was inside n I’d go in to see him n come out there were hundreds of people behind us as us(the fam) were in the front of the crowd.. among the crowd was my ex which annoyed me and a guy i fancy on the other side wit his mum, i tried to make my way to him, but he left, soon after i snapped at an uncle of mine(which i’d never do) n left too n drove off in my black bmw(which im soon to buy, was gettin insurance quotes for it lastnite too) i drove off and just ahead there was a traggic car accident, 2 people dead, both padestrians bumped n in horrible positions n naked, as i drove past a man sed to me ‘theres nothing to see, move along’ i drove to a fimiliar area from my child hood with familiar faces and i took my little cousins to a festival then took them home n we started a bong fire n i stood there for ages burning papers, then left n drove home wit the guy i fancy on my mind, got to a street n had to get out coz i couldnt drive any further because there were dead bodies 1000s of them all over the road all in a fetal position n naked n bloody. i walked past n over them trying to get to the end, again it was a road near an open field n now it was covered in snow n ice, but it seemed there was no end n all that was on my mind was that i had to find the guy that i fancy who was walking in the feild n at that point i woke up n found it freaky n tried to shake it off.. horrible feeling..
My father passed away 20 years ago. I used to have reoccuring dreams where my father never came home from his doctors appointment, and we realized he was lost..but no one would try to find him, like they would not listen to me. Years passed and last night i dream that a friend called my home and told me my father fell and someone needs to take him to the hospital, but i couldnt get to him because I couldnt find my car keys. In those dreams, I never saw his face or heard his voice.
Tony,
My father passed away a couple of months ago, and I honestly feel along with other relatives that my sister has pushed him to his grave. She took advantage of him and broke him up financially, which stressed him out. I always took care of him and tried helping him financially. My sister and I do not get along because of the evil things she has done to him for her drug habits. My dad wanted me to have her put in jail, which I did, but she does not know that he was the one who had it done. He didn’t want her to know because he didn’t want her mad at him. I had a dream about him last night where I kept seeing living and deceased images of him, but he did not speak. My sister was in the dream as well, and she came up behind me and shot me in the side of my neck. The bullet did not penetrate all the way into my skin, and I was able to pull the bullet out and was left with a bloody wound. Can you tell me what this dream may mean and maybe if my father is trying to tell me something?
I keep having the same dream for the last 4 years. My dad died 4 years ago and I keep having this dream where it’s like real life. I’m the same age as I am in real life. and in the dream really wasn’t dead just gone for a long while and I’m so happy to see him. I can’t tell anyone he’s alive because I already told them all he died. Then he dies and I’m the only one who knows that he died because everyone already thought he was dead and it hurts so bad because it’s like he is dying all over again. I just can’t seem to figure it out.
Hi Tony, I lost my daddy very suddenly in jan 2012 and thought I was coping, but since that I dream every nite he is alive and well, I talk to him, saying daddy I thought u were dead, and he tells me don’t b silly? Last nite I dreamt my daddy was alive and my mum was on the ground dead, my dad wasn’t upset and just walked away from her, these dreams r very upsetting, and I’ve even woke my self crying. Cld u shed some light on all this for me?
Glynis – What are you crying about? Your father died and he is alive but without a body. Does someone cease to exist because they lose both arm and legs? Do they cease to exist because they lose their whole body? I had a stroke where I was unable to speak and the move the right side of my body. We are taught that if our brain is injure our personality is also injured. But what I experienced was that the brain is simply the organ that allows us to move our body – because I was still whole and functioning inside the wounded boy and brain.
Your father is alive and well – but not in a body. So rejoice that he is telling you he is well. And perhaps read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/near-death-experiences/ and also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions/#TalkingDead
Tony
I had a very strange dream twice. It was very vivid and disturbing. In my dream a group of friends and I visited an old and abandoned house. The house was dark all over with cob webs and it was clearly falling apart. We came to a room with stairs going up to a door leading to an attic. I felt afraid but I slowly moved up to the door at the top of the stairs and as I opened it a barrel came crashing down the stairs. I looked down at the bottom of the stairs and saw that the barrel had turned into a man curled up in the fetal position naked and sobbing.
Jess – This is a very interesting dream.
Interesting because it happened twice; because it disturbed you; and because of the dream situation. The old and abandoned house is usually an old dwelling place – a past life. The cob webs and the state of the place adds to it being from the long past. Going up into the attic is often frightening because we are becoming aware of things never before met in this life – we cannot remember because we have a new brain and so the only way to access the past is to go to higher awareness – the attic, where old things are stored.
The barrel crashing down suggests that it was stored for a long time, and you releasing it allowed the life that was lived and died then to be realised in today’s world.
This is a very important dream, and any thing I have said is only empty words – unless you explore the dream. If you do then do it with a close friend you can trust, then read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#Being Person
Tony
… i had a dream that i was feeling upset and i was about to kill myself when all of a sudden i was in a wonderful dress and there were zombies surrounding me, and they were throwing a ball. i was the main guest and they all danced with me, and i felt better. when i woke up i was scared. does that mean im embracing my death?
Hailey – I think you were scared by the word and thought Zombies. Those films have such a lot to answer for.
The zombies were an image of your own down feelings that were turned into a happy situation by your dream creator. I didn’t see any signs of dying in the dream, only your upset feelings.
Tony
Dear Tony, hope you are well.
My father had a dream Saturday night of my deceased sister . He dreamt that she was back in the hospital bed, and woke up normally. He was frantic wondering how she could just wake up now after being dead for 4 months and quickly thinking about telling everyone that she woke up.
Then she said to him:
‘dad, I’m ok, Im cured and not sick anymore.’
Can you let me know if this was just a dream, or an actual contact visitation from her spirit , ie. message from her spirit? I don’t know the difference.
Thank you kindly,
Paula V.
Paula – Since we last communicated I have added some fresh information, so will include links at the end.
I think your father’s dream is the result of deeply ingrained beliefs he has been exposed to. You can see this in his dream where he was frantic wondering how she could wake up after being DEAD for four moths. Then your dead sister came to him to try to reassure him, saying she was fine now and not sick. So I think your father needs educating about life after death.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#Talking As
And http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions/#TalkingDead and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions/#SymbolDream
Tony
Thanks so much for the info Tony, it’s wonderful and insightful.
I think he was in shock from seeing her physically ‘wake up’ and talk, it was the physical shock, and then total excitement that she was back physically with us and all was normal again that he had to go and tell everyone. I am reading on the info below you sent that it is a thought of communicating that reaches loved ones, maybe he is wanting to talk to her here again physically. I know how much we saw her suffer physically here that has deeply scarred us – then and now – seeing her suffer extremely physically destroyed us, she knows this as months before she passed she sadly said ‘what was my short life for but to make you all sad’. She meant leaving us here, and we losing her here. Although she is alive now, it is deeply upsetting that she is not physically here, as she realised this.
thank you again..